Combat Ready Reploid
by AcronymAcrobat
Summary: After her fateful battle with Pyrrha, Penny's story should have ended. But now, she finds herself in a strange and futuristic new world, where sentient machines like her are both the greatest asset and the greatest threat that mankind has ever known. As new threats and dangerous enemies reveal themselves, will Penny be able to adapt and survive in 21XX? [ON HIATUS]
1. Arrival

**A/N: Hello, readers, and welcome to my first real venture into the wild world of crossovers. Strap in, because this is going to be a wild ride.** **The original idea for this crossover was conceived by my good friend Recycler, who requested that I write this in the first place.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The Vytal Festival Tournament. A fiercely competitive and prestigious fighting event founded, ironically enough, as a symbol of peace between the four Kingdoms of Remnant. It was the dream of many aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses to fight in such a tournament, and to bring honor and renown to their nation and their school.

And now, Penny Polendina was on the verge of victory.

The sound of colliding steel filled Amity Colosseum as her wire-guided swords deftly disarmed the famous Invincible Girl, Pyrrha Nikos. The fight so far had been a rather close match, with equally impressive feats from both sides. But now, the tables had turned, and with no weapons, Pyrrha proved to be less "invincible" than her title suggested.

As Penny lined up her swords for the finishing blow, a grin crossed her face. Her scarlet-haired opponent froze in fear, her eyes locked onto the levitating swords. As much as Penny disliked this, she knew that ending the match quickly was the best option for both of them.

 _'If I win this, perhaps I will be able to stay at Beacon!'_ she thought as the last of the blades moved into formation, completing the razor-sharp array.

With a single motion, the synthetic girl sent her swords forward, each one locked onto Pyrrha and ready to efficiently neutralize her Aura. As the blades closed in, Pyrrha once again stood firm in preparation for one final counterattack.

The Spartan girl glared in concentration, her arms thrown back as an invisible wave of magnetic force washed over the Colosseum floor. The polarity wave caught Penny's swords in an intangible current, turning them around and sending them flying back, wires in tow.

Penny immediately knew that this was bad. Very bad.

As the blades soared backward, the cables that guided them began to wrap and weave around her body, crushing her arms under an excruciating pressure that she had never experienced before. Before she could activate the emergency jettison, her abdomen was strangled by another wire, causing her to freeze in stunned agony as her internal mechanisms were mercilessly compacted by her own wiring.

Then, something much worse happened.

A low, metallic groan emanated from Penny's body as her outer shell gave way under the immense strain, horrifically tearing her apart in full view of thousands of spectators. A grating cacophony of screeching and splitting easily overtook the silent crowd as wiring and mechanical viscera littered the floor, a shower of sparks scattering across the ground instead of the expected shower of blood. As her body fell to pieces, Penny tried to scream for help, but to no avail as her speech unit lost power.

 **CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED**

 **MULTIPLE POWER FAILURES CONFIRMED**

 **TIME REMAINING AT CURRENT STATUS: 9.4 SECONDS**

As her optics shut down with a quiet whir, Penny realized that this was the end. The visual feed changed to static as the girl processed one last thought.

' _Ruby…'_

* * *

Penny came to in an alien, yet vaguely familiar place of tranquil oblivion. The entire area was bathed in white, completely devoid of any defining characteristics or landmarks, causing her to wonder if this was even real.

"Anyone? Can you hear me?"

As she called out for any other inhabitants of this place, Penny was startled by the sudden appearance of a blue cloud of digital tiles. The cloud began to take shape, eventually materializing into an old, bearded man who vaguely reminded the synthetic girl of her father. The resemblance and seemingly friendly demeanor of the man made Penny want to speak more with him.

But above all, she wanted some answers.

"Who are you? Do you know my father?"

The old man smiled.

"In due time, Penny. But for now, I need you to wake up. There is somewhere where you are needed."

* * *

 **MANUAL REBOOT: START. BEGIN DIAGNOSTICS.**

 **CENTRAL AURA GENERATOR: ONLINE**

 **AUTOREPAIR SUBSYSTEM: ONLINE**

 **MOTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS: ONLINE**

 **NEURAL NETWORK STATUS: GREEN**

 **STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 95%**

A chill ran through Penny's body, or whatever equivalent existed in the frigid darkness of death. She was sure that she was alive, somehow, but whatever that actually meant was beyond her. But how could that be? As much as it hurt to think about, her fateful battle with the Invincible Girl was where her story was supposed to end, at least according to the conventional perception of mortality.

There were no second chances.

But why was she coming back online? And who was that man?

SENSORY PACKAGE: ONLINE

As her senses returned to her, Penny realized that something was different.

Very different.

Instead of sitting on the Amity Colosseum floor in pieces, the girl found herself on a massive, futuristic elevated highway that was mysteriously derelict despite the time of day. The landscape of Vale's scenic beauty was replaced by a crowded arrangement of towering structures that poked through the evening sky, almost scraping the heavens themselves with their sheer magnitude. The natural red and green flora of the Valic forest was replaced by a diverse and dense urban sprawl, long rivers of light flowing between the buildings like an electric circulatory system.

"Where am I?" she asked herself as she stood up and checked her body. Oddly enough, everything seemed to be in near-perfect condition, which was seemingly impossible considering the horrible and agonizing death that she had just experienced.

But before she could do anything, she first had to figure out which Kingdom this city was in.

She looked around, found nothing but empty street, and began to walk down the highway in hopes of coming across a toll booth or some other municipal building. She walked for a while down the abandoned highway, taking note of any outstanding landmarks in case she got lost at any point in the near future.

"Where is everyone? Hello?" she called out as she passed by what appeared to be an empty guard checkpoint. The place looked like it had been hastily abandoned, with recently-created tire marks and scattered papers littering the ground.

This wasn't adding up. People didn't just disappear completely, especially in a place where thousands are present at any given time.

That is, unless they were running away.

"Grimm attack? That would make sense, but…."

Penny stopped as something caught her attention a few hundred meters down the road. There appeared to be a sizable fire in the middle of the highway, the blaze fed by the leaking fuel from a packed cluster of crashed automobiles.

"That's no good."

Penny broke out into a full sprint toward the inferno as her swords folded out of her backpack, ready for combat. With a faint roar, the swords' beams sent her dashing forward at high velocity, the plasma leaving a luminous, neon green trail in her wake. She reversed the thrust, slowing down to avoid ramming into the fiery cluster as she examined the scene. This appeared to be a standard car crash, albeit a more severe one.

 _'Shouldn't the fire department be here by now? And where is-'_

Her train of thought was derailed suddenly and explosively as an intimidating, green-armored knight jumped over the wreckage from the other side. One of the knight's arms was replaced with a flail-like weapon, while the other bore a large shield. Its visage seemed all but devoid of human traits, the helmet's narrow visor showing nothing but shadows and two glaring, lit eyes.

"Hi, mister! Are you a Huntsman?" Penny asked. The knight did nothing but stare, showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Can you assist me in navigation? I'm not sure which-"

The mysterious warrior suddenly fired its flail forward, causing Penny to gasp in surprise as she narrowly dodged the spiked ball. She immediately returned fire, only to have her numerous plasma beams reflected harmlessly by the knight's shield. He yanked the chain back, lowering his shield to recall the flail for another attack.

This was her chance.

In one deft stroke, Penny sent one of her swords careening downward in a diagonal slash, the blade connecting with the enemy's green armor. The metal began to screech as the sword cleanly bisected it, leaving the knight's top half to slide off the bottom and fall to the ground with a loud crash and a shower of sparks.

Penny was confused. This "Huntsman" was a machine, and this particular robot didn't even remotely resemble the cutting-edge Atlesian AK-200. Her examination of the destroyed robot was interrupted by the telltale sound of a running aircraft.

 _'Maybe I could signal them? Yes, that's a good idea.'_

Following her hastily-produced and logical plan, Penny stepped away from the wreck and stood in the middle of an open highway stretch, waving her arms at regular intervals in a bid to get the aircraft's attention when it finally passed. She waited for a few tense moments, already deciding which seat on the Bullhead she would try for, when the vehicle in question finally came into view.

However, this was no Bullhead.

The girl sat in silent confusion as a large, heavily-armed insectoid aircraft turned and began to circle the highway. A sizable cloud of smaller drones followed the giant machine, breaking off and continuing down the highway with their guns blazing, indiscriminately destroying several parked cars and street fixtures for no apparent reason.

Penny was confused. The Kingdoms had peacefully coexisted for decades. What was going on here?

As the bee-like VTOL turned and deployed its weapons in a clear gesture of hostility, one thing became clear to the girl:

She wasn't in the Kingdoms anymore.

A low whistle filled Penny's ears as a barrage of rockets flew towards her, causing her to focus her Aura in preparation for the hit. However, to her surprise, the missiles flew past her and flew downward, impacting the structural supports of the highway.

"Oh, no."

The girl heard a deep rumbling from underneath her as the ground began to shake, making the imminent collapse of this segment of highway evident. As giant cracks appeared under her, Penny fired her swords downward, propelling herself up and away from the falling platform. One final groan marked its fate as a massive chunk of the road fell away and into the city below her, undoubtedly maiming or killing hundreds of innocents.

And if there was one thing robots weren't supposed to do, it was to kill innocents.

The levitating swords surrounding Penny switched back to their blade mode, the gleaming steel edges ready to decommission this behemoth once and for all. With a wave of her right arm, she sent three of the weapons rocketing toward it, securely anchoring them into the armor plating as she simultaneously embedded two more into the concrete behind her. The machine increased its rotor speed to compensate for the additional resistance as Penny struggled to keep it restrained.

 _'I have to destroy this, but I'll cause more collateral damage if I'm not careful. What to do...'_

Suddenly, the synthetic girl had an idea.

With her idle hand, Penny maneuvered two more swords toward the mechanical insect's air intake as she pulled harder on the tethers, holding the struggling enemy in place. She sent the two free swords forward at blinding speed, effortlessly slicing through the intake cover and shredding the robot from the inside. A jet of fire exploded from the back as the main rotor snapped off and tumbled away, dooming the massive machine to crash and burn on the road. The wrecked aircraft smashed into the ground, engines flaring and armor collapsing, before the internal inferno reached the fuel cells.

 ** _BOOOM!_**

Penny was blown backward by the sheer force of the massive fireball in front of her. Almost nothing was left of the insect, save an impressive debris field and a few irreparable electrical components.

General Ironwood would have been impressed.

Retracting her swords back into their container, Penny turned away from the flaming wreck and looked at the more damaged section of highway. This was evidently where the initial attacks that explained the empty road took place, and it looked like the attackers were coming back for round two.

As plumes of smoke and dust rose in the distance, she decided that sitting around and waiting was not an appealing option.

Something big was happening, and Penny intended to find out what.


	2. Mavericks

**A/N: After much ado, you get a new chapter. I hope you guys like it.**

 **Before we start, I will say that I've been blown away by the anount of feedback this has gotten so far. Thanks again to everyone who favorited, followed, reviewed, and PMd; I always love to hear your feedback and ideas.**

* * *

"X! Zero! Do you read me?"

The navigator's voice was almost drowned out by the sound of two revving Chaser Bikes as they sped down the highway, past the congested and car-filled evacuation lanes.

"This is X. We read you," the blue-armored Maverick Hunter said, his white-gloved hands wrapped tightly around his bike's throttle controls.

"We have confirmed sightings of berserk Mechaniloids just north of your position. Be careful on your approach."

"Roger," X confirmed as a red bike revved up and overtook him, a blonde ponytail flailing in the wind behind the bike's rider. A jet of fire shot out of the exhaust pipe, accompanied by a loud bang of the exploding fumes as the bike put more distance between itself and X.

The blue Hunter smirked. So much for being careful.

"Watch out, Zero! We've got-"

The red-armored Reploid looked over his shoulder, the triangular blue crystal on his head gleaming under the streetlight. "Yeah, I heard her. I don't need you to babysit me, X."

"Stop there, you two. I'm sending the 17th Elite to back you guys up. They should be there in four minutes or less," the navigator said. X and Zero complied, slowing their vehicles to a stop. The scene was clear, almost eerily so, with neither a Reploid nor a human in sight.

That is, until a ghastly metallic clanking echoed across the highway.

"We've got company," Zero said calmly as he drew his Z-Saber. The glowing, razor-sharp plasma blade shot out instantly, ionizing the surrounding air. X's right arm lit up, a mosaic of cyan polygons covering it as it changed from a hand to his iconic arm cannon.

"What's making that noise?" X asked, his other arm resting atop his Buster. "Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good."

The sound drew closer as the elevated highway began to shake. The segment's weight overload sirens began to wail as a large spider-shaped Mechaniloid scaled the wall, its plated titanium legs creating visible cracks on the concrete with every step. An array of red eyes covered the head, presumably serving as a targeting mechanism for the large flak cannon mounted within the abdominal section.

If it had feelings, it would be pissed off.

"X! You go on ahead! I'll handle this guy," the red Hunter said.

"Roger," X answered as his dash boosters flared, his speed allowing him to dodge the spider's slow and powerful attacks with ease. As Zero jumped up and unleashed a skillful upward strike on the mech, X took advantage of the distraction and slid under the massive body.

As the sounds of the firing AAA cannon filled the air, X gave Zero one last glance before sprinting up the road, toward the major point of Maverick activity.

"See you back at base, Zero."

* * *

 _'Well, that was a wonderful time. Except, I still don't know where I am or who I'm fighting…'_

As the destroyed bee aircraft smoldered and crackled, Penny briefly contemplated trying to find a working vehicle and making a swift getaway. Logically speaking, it would certainly be a good idea, especially considering her "questionable" situation, as Ciel would have put it.

But, as a sentient being, Penny was not entirely logical.

After taking one last moment to fire confirmation shots at the destroyed machine, Penny turned away and resumed her lonely venture down the besieged highway, her only company being the numerous dropships and airborne drones that flew overhead. Many of the aircraft were identical to the one she had just killed, but they were seemingly ignoring her for some reason.

 _'Perhaps I scared them off? But if they're just uncoordinated robots, that means that someone is-'_

The pieces were starting to come together. This was no accident. Someone, or something had orchestrated this attack, and Penny hoped that by finding them, she could get some desperately-needed answers.

And continuing her journey toward the possible focal point of the attack was a good way to start.

* * *

"Take this!"

X's voice rang out as a charged buster shot blew through a line of three berserk Degraver units, reducing them to nothing more than a few pieces of debris and a cloud of smoke. The density of Mavericks had only been increasing as X moved down the highway, like they were attempting to strategically defend the area with nothing but superior numbers.

Unfortunately for them, this strategy wasn't very effective against Dr. Light's final creation.

The blue Reploid looked back, examining the clusters of cracked armor and melted wiring left in his wake. As much as he disliked bringing such destruction upon his fellow machines, he knew after many years of fighting Sigma and his forces that it was entirely necessary for peace.

That, and it was absolutely undeniable that he was incredibly good at it.

After confirming his kills and checking the area once more, X began to run forward. He had plenty of experience with highways, so he knew that care had to be taken when dealing with any civilian survivors, or the less desirable potential Maverick threats that could lie in wait.

After running a ways, X stopped. Something wasn't right about this area.

On the ground in front of him, X saw a cleanly-cut but otherwise intact Hoganmer. The cut seemed almost impeccable in precision, leading him to believe that whoever was responsible possessed incredibly high combat specs or expert-level skills.

And X had no idea whose side this person was on.

The S-Class Hunter stood up, checked his Buster's power levels, and kept going, ready to fight and, if necessary, terminate whoever was behind this.

* * *

As she moved down the road, Penny began to notice a higher level of damage present to the surrounding structures and vehicles. Intuition told her that this meant the attacker was close, but whether or not that was a good thing was entirely up in the air. The damaged area seemed empty, but the girl kept her swords deployed regardless.

"Hello?" she called. She didn't hear a response, which saddened her. Either everyone here had evacuated, or they were deceased.

 _'I do hope that it's the former,'_ Penny thought.

Unfortunately, her hopes were misplaced.

Penny heard a small splash from her shoe, making her look down and see what substance was responsible for the noise.

She immediately wished she hadn't.

A pool of dark-colored oil was running out from under a fallen piece of rubble, a faint trickle still flowing out like a babbling brook of petroleum. This wouldn't have been a problem under normal circumstances, but Penny saw something that chilled her synthetic heart.

A cracked and dented robot arm was protruding from the rubble, its fingers sprawled across the pavement in an open-palm position. The white coating of the digits was ripped and torn, revealing the bent and broken metal skeleton within. An orange and yellow triangular emblem that Penny had never seen before was distinctly emblazoned on the forearm armor. The hand was tightly gripping a worn and old picture, one which told Penny that this wasn't a simple military robot.

The picture appeared to be a family photo, with two metal-plated people side by side, one male and one female.

Penny suddenly wasn't the only sentient synthetic on the planet anymore.

"Well, well. Looks like X was too scared to face me himself."

A shudder shot through Penny as she heard an arrogant-sounding male voice a ways behind her. A series of hard, metallic footsteps emanated from the source, the sound growing closer with every successive clank. She turned around to see a large, heavily-armored figure approaching her, the evening sunlight glinting off of the figure's dark purple body panels and menacing shoulder cannon. The man's face was obscured completely by a purple and silver helmet with a T-shaped visor, the only real recognizable facial feature being a single luminous red eye.

Something told Penny that this person wasn't here to help.

"So, another newbie Maverick Hunter here to fight. Great."

"Maverick Hunter? What's that?" Penny asked, bewildered. "I'm almost a Huntress-"

"I don't really care who you are or where you came from, kid. Only thing I know is where you're going," the figure said as he locked an arcing ammo belt into his shoulder cannon. "And that's to the scrap yard."

"Name's Vile, kid, and I'm here to show you what happens when you idiots get in my way."

Suddenly, the purple fighter fired his shoulder cannon at an evasive Penny, narrowly missing her. The shot crashed into a car, reducing it to a fiery wreck.

 _'This isn't good,'_ Penny thought.

Vile laughed. "Not bad, kid. But that's only a warm-up."

The sound of loaded machine guns echoed through the street as twin firearm barrels deployed from Vile's wrists. Bursts of fire exploded from the barrels as a barrage of tracer bullets flew toward the synthetic girl, who used a phalanx of swords to block most of the hits.

 _'My turn.'_

With a wave of her hand, Penny sent three swords skyward. The blades plummeted downward, their business ends prepped to converge on the assailant. Vile, however, saw this move coming and promptly fired his cannon upward, releasing a swarm of tiny missiles into the air. Penny grimaced as her swords were perforated and shredded, leaving nothing but a shower of tiny metal fragments to rain down on Vile.

"You're gonna have to do better than that. Watch and learn, kid."

Vile dashed sideways to an abandoned sedan, lifted his leg, and slammed it into the pavement, effortlessly sending the car into the air like a thousand-pound hacky sack. With another kick, the armored warrior sent the car flying toward Penny.

 _'Is he even human? That's-'_

At the last second, Penny swung four of her swords downward in a straight line, bisecting the car as a jet of molten metal flowed down the break. Before the girl could breath a sigh of relief, she noticed another attack, a fast-moving sphere of yellow energy.

Only this time, there was no way she had enough time to block it.

The ball made contact, sending millions of volts of electricity through Penny's system. Her joints locked, her Aura dropped, and her view began to degrade into a mess of static and white noise as she fell involuntarily to her knees.

She was powerless.

As Vile walked triumphantly toward his soon-to-be kill, his right leg started to mechanically shift, revealing a secondary cannon housed within the knee.

"See, this is why they shouldn't send some newly-hired lackie to do a professional's work."

As Penny's systems continued to lock up and fail, Vile stood above her and laughed like a madman, gloating over his victory. He abruptly stopped, wound his leg back, and rammed his cannon-knee into Penny's chest. A huge boom nearly overloaded Penny's aural sensors as her Aura rippled and sparked, leaving her completely unshielded.

"You weren't bad, I'll admit," Vile cackled as he fired his shoulder cannon into Penny, throwing her backward. A sizable hole had appeared in her armor, allowing a tangled cluster of electrified green wiring to fall out and spark on the ground.

 **STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: CRITICAL**

 **MULTIPLE SYSTEM IRREGULARITIES DETECTED**

 _'No….'_

Penny tried to speak, to utter some dignified last words, but her speech module had seemingly lost power. As the indigo maniac walked over to finish the job, Penny wondered if she would get a third chance at life in some other plane of existence.

 _'Father, I'm sorry.'_

"It's just too bad that you can't stand up against-"

Before Vile finished his sentence, a shining blue pulse flew over and crashed into him. Several large cracks appeared on his armor as he flinched and screamed in pain.

"So….you finally decide to show up," Vile said to the new combatant. "It's been a while….X!"

"You're finished, Vile! Lay down your weapons!" the rescuer commanded. Penny struggled to move her head toward the new voice, and saw a blue-armored person wielding what appeared to be an arm cannon. He appeared to be quite young; young enough to be in a Huntsman academy, actually. As Penny's hopes of returning home grew, her hopes of actually surviving began to shrink when the telltale energy warnings filled her ears.

"You know me, X," Vile replied. "I follow my own rules. I don't take orders from you."

"This is your last chance!" X shouted as his arm cannon charged up, a vibrant blue light amassing at the opening.

Vile's damaged pieces began to arc with blue electricity, causing him to cough and growl in pain and exertion.

"Don't think for a second that this is over, X!" he shouted as his body took on a blinding magenta hue and seemingly dematerialized into nothing.

"Damn…." X said, defeated.

As if he just now noticed her, X's eyes suddenly widened as he knelt down beside the critically wounded Atlesian. As Penny's optics began to dilate once again, she saw the mysterious blue Hunter place his hand on the side of his helmet and begin to communicate with someone.

"X to Hunter Base! I have a damaged Reploid at Sector….."

And with that, Penny's world went dark once again.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you guys like Vile. I know I do.**

 **See you next chapter!**


	3. Breakout

**A/N: This is a comparatively shorter chapter, or it feels like one to me. Regardless, this is a necessary part of the intro, so I tried to make it as bearable as possible. Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

 _"-looks pretty bad. Someone get Lifesaver!"_

 _"Holy hell, what happened? We're going to need…."_

 _"-re we even sure she's a Reploid? Her specs aren't-"_

 _"-just hang on! We're going to fix you up!"_

* * *

Penny came to in a white room, her body neatly placed on some kind of high-tech (and extremely uncomfortable) metal bed. The cold platform was completely sheetless and devoid of anything that allowed a comfortable rest, unless you had recently experienced dying.

Twice.

Penny attempted to summon her swords, but her attempts were futile. Her backpack/weapon storage device was missing, along with her normal clothing. Instead, she was dressed in a simple hospital gown, unarmed and quite cold.

The girl sat up, once again feeling confused by her surroundings. While this room reminded her of her "birthplace" in Atlas, it was distinctly different in its apparent lack of tools or workspaces. She tried to lift her arms and legs, but was stopped by a set of thick handcuffs attached to the bed.

This was concerning.

The problem wasn't in her current prisoner state; she could probably break these restraints easily. The problem was that something, or someone had decided to take her captive. Her status as a glorified Atlas R&D venture made her quite the target, as her father and military overseers often reminded her. Admittedly, she hadn't really considered the possibility of being taken seriously before this moment, but things had been getting stranger by the minute ever since she woke up on that highway.

In the corner, she saw an inconspicuous black orb, its shiny surface gleaming with the periodic flash of a red light.

'Security cameras? Restraints?'

This evidently wasn't a workshop.

This was a prison.

And Penny intended to break out soon. **VERY** soon.

* * *

It was a slow day at Hunter Base. Most of the Hunters were providing security for the relief workers after the Highway attack ended, so the tower was much more empty than usual. And, despite the demand for additional mission-capable personnel, two Reploid security guards were left behind with the incredibly mundane task of watching the medical observation wing of the base.

"And that's when I said, 'these aren't the Mechaniloids you're looking for.'"

The green cyclops-like Reploid seated across the table was utterly unimpressed, his glowing blue eye narrowing in a squint of disapproval.

"...You've told this story fifteen times, at least."

"Yeah, because it's a good one," his partner, an orange-colored and much more human-like Reploid, retorted. A pair of goggles rested atop his helmet, giving him a distinguishing feature from the many similarly designed Reploids running around base.

And, as his co-workers would tell you, he had a much more irritating sense of humor than normal.

"The look on your face after you tell it is absolutely infuriating to see," the Sniper Joe unit said, propping his legs up on the cheap table. "I hear better jokes from the coffee machine."

"Hey, Joe, at least I have a face," the other reploid replied, smirking at his joke. Someone needed to call Chill Penguin to fix this burn.

"Low blow, man. Low blow."

The two guards glanced over to the security terminal, and saw that a blinking red light had appeared on the monitor.

 **WARNING: ABNORMAL RESTRAINT STRAIN DETECTED**

"Wait, shouldn't we do something?" Joe asked.

"Nah. That alert system has been acting up all week. I've been trying to get Douglas to fix it, but…."

 **WARNING: ABNORMAL RESTRAINT STRAIN DETECTED**

"I dunno, man…"

 **WARNING: CONTAINMENT BREACH**

"I TOLD YOU!" Joe shrieked as he tumbled backwards out of his chair. "WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?"

"UHHHH…. CALL COMMANDER SIGNAS OR SOMEONE! HURRY!"

* * *

The heavy metal door groaned under the immense force of Penny's punch, sending it flying into the wide and well-lit corridor. She proceeded through the doorway and through the corridor, searching for a directory or some other helpful navigational tool. She eventually found her answer in the form of a small but prominent backlit sign on the wall that read, "High-Security Observation."

"What is this place?" Penny asked. She assumed that she was the one being observed, but the observer in question was nowhere to be seen as of yet.

Breaking out into a run, Penny sped down the hall, intending to track down her weapons. She knew that her strength and Aura would only get her so far, and she had no idea what her captors were capable of. They could be incredibly dangerous, and she had to be prepared.

As the alarms rang out, Penny stopped at a heavily-reinforced door.

 **ARMORY: NO ENTRY WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION**

The large and imposing print on the sign almost made Penny think twice about peeling the door open, but she decided that today was a good day to break a handful of rules. The small and boxy storage area was cluttered with varied weaponry, the likes of which Penny hadn't seen before.

No Dust, no spectacularly transforming weapons, and absolutely nothing useful.

Except for a familiar backpack on display in a glass case.

The glass shattered easily, the pieces sent scattering wildly across the floor as Penny extracted her weapons. After donning the storage unit and confirming that her swords were functional, she exited the way she came in, continuing her escape.

From what? That was a question to which she had no answer.

* * *

"She's just breached Armory 17. She's on the move, Commander."

The high-ranking officer placed a hand on his chin, carefully weighing his options. Though she apparently wasn't a viral Maverick, this girl was immensely powerful and had to be dealt with carefully. The fact that her loyalties were unclear didn't help matters either.

"Where is she headed?" the commander asked.

"Calculating….she's climbing the B3 stairwell. She might be trying to escape through the loading dock."

"I see," Commander Signas said. "Order all personnel in her path to evacuate immediately."

"But Commander Signas, wouldn't that…?"

"Let her escape? Yes and no. She's clearly experiencing some confusion, but sending a team to capture her could be too risky," Signas answered as he began to walk toward the main elevator. "That's exactly why we're going to allow her to come to us. Get a perimeter set up around HQ; I want all available A-Classes and higher ready to engage if I give the word."

The operator looked up and away from her keyboard, eyes widened.

"What are you going to do, sir?"

"Simple. I'm going to have a brief chat with her."

* * *

"I've never encountered this many stairs before…."

Penny climbed up the stairs, one of many flights in this dreadful section. If she was a human, she would probably be legally dead after this. The elevator, as tempting as it was, was too dangerous; elevators could be shut down, she would be captured again, and she'd be back at square one.

So, the stairs were the only option, despite how inconvenient they were.

"Thank goodness," she muttered as she saw a light a few stories up. After she escaped, she could work on returning to Vale, and more importantly, her friends.

 _'If only Ruby was here….'_

With a beam-assisted leap, Penny closed the distance between herself and the exit. The hatch was thick and wide, reminding her of the hangar doors on Atlas's prized airships. A soft hum emanated from her swords as they glowed brightly, indicating that they were fully charged.

"Here goes…."

The lasers were unleashed upon the door, tearing it open in a fiery explosion of shrapnel and molten metal. As the smoke cleared and the swords vented their heat, Penny walked slowly through the cloud, intending to find the optimal escape route.

"FREEZE!" an intimidating male voice barked as Penny saw a large ring of armored vehicles arranged around the now-demolished door. The perimeter was manned by countless people, their armor similar to the robots she had encountered on the highway.

 _'More of them? How many-?'_

"Penny. Lower your weapons."

Penny spun around and faced the source of a second voice, this one situated behind her. Standing a few feet behind in the doorway was a tall and commanding man with black armor in the same style as the others. The details and ornaments suggested that he was a high-ranking military officer of some kind, but what exactly that meant for Penny was entirely up in the air.

 _'How does this person know my name? Are they an ally?'_

"We aren't here to harm you. Please, lower your weapons before the situation escalates."

Penny thought it over. If she disarmed, she might not have enough time to ready herself again before the armored cars unloaded on her. That wasn't even taking the officer into account either.

She had to take a chance.

As the swords powered down and retreated into the backpack, the officer released a hidden sigh of relief. The man walked slowly toward the Atlesian girl, and extended his hand in greeting.

"Welcome to Maverick Hunter Headquarters, Miss Polendina. We have much to discuss."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. It means a lot.**

 **Feel free to leave your thoughts and ideas. I actually might do a Q &A later on if you readers want one, so let me know what you think.**


	4. An Unfortunate Misunderstanding

After following the man through the sprawling building known as Hunter Base, Penny found herself in a spacious executive office, well-furnished and organized. The large window overlooked the interior of a busy operations room, a noisy place where several people rushed around constantly. The room was especially busy today, and Penny assumed that the events at the highway were to blame for that.

On the opposite side of the room, another window overlooked the sprawling city outside. This building was incredibly tall, judging by the almost mind-boggling altitude the office was built at. A few rays of bright sunlight flowed in through the glass, lightening the room and the mood simultaneously.

It was both beautiful and incredibly scary.

"So, Miss Polendina...where should we begin? I'm sure that you have quite a few questions that you want answered."

The commander placed his hands on the cyan, anodized metal desk in a gesture of openness to discussion. For the leader of the group that had evidently taken her hostage, this man seemed to be much more benevolent than Penny had initially expected. Recalling the various new sights that she was introduced to on the way, she shifted in the matching chair positioned across from the man, trying to make herself comfortable.

 _'I have to be careful. I still don't know if he's an ally.'_

"Yes, I do have some questions. Firstly, how did you know my name?" Penny asked.

"We recovered your basic ID shortly after we extracted you from the highway. We weren't able to gain much else. Our analysis of your systems was...inconclusive, Miss Polendina."

 _'Analysis of my systems? That means that-'_

"So you know about my secret? About me being a-"

"A Reploid? Of course we know," the commander stated, unfazed. "We almost had you taken to a human hospital, but we realized our mistake almost immediately."

"Wait, what did you refer to me as?" Penny asked, confused and slightly offended. She wasn't a real human by any means, but she certainly wasn't a "Reploid."

Well, she had no idea what a Reploid actually was either.

"A Reploid. In other words, a machine capable of human-like reasoning and emotion." he explained, evidently surprised by Penny's ignorance. "Take me, for example."

 _'Wait...he's a robot as well? I had my suspicions, but….'_

"So you're a machine as well?" she inquired.

"Yes. Almost every individual in Hunter Base is as well. Our kind and the humans have coexisted for years, with only….some problems along the way. You saw some of these problems in person on the highway, correct?"

Penny nodded her head. "Yes, sir, I did."

"The aggressive machines you faced are known as Mavericks. They're Mechaniloids and Reploids who turn against society for various reasons, but the most common reason today is viral infection."

"Viral infection? What do you mean? If it's a virus, can't you cure them?"

"We haven't found a cure as of yet. The Sigma Virus corrupts the victim's data to a point of no return, so we cannot rehabilitate them with current technology," he said. "That's why we restrained you in the observation room; we couldn't afford to take any risks."

Penny felt a surge of guilt. She had caused quite a bit of unnecessary damage to the building.

"...I understand," she said. "I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I assumed that your group was hostile."

"It's not a problem. Repairs are already underway. It was a misunderstanding, and we accept full responsibility for failing to communicate sooner," he said, a slight smirk on his face. "But do make sure to ask permission before entering restricted areas in the future."

Penny agreed with this statement as she pondered the new information that this man had relayed to her. Things were clearly very different in this Kingdom...whatever Kingdom it was. She was unaware of how advanced the technology outside her home was; it seemed almost alien in comparison to the familiarity of Atlas or Vale.

"Sir….I have one more question: which Kingdom is this?"

The man- no, Reploid blinked. This was a normal question, but the phrasing was incredibly odd. Earth hadn't seen a true kingdom in a century or so; what was she talking about?

"...This isn't a kingdom at all, Penny. This is Abel City. Population of 100 million, most densely populated urban center on the continent, and the largest Hunter installation on planet Earth."

This couldn't be.

 _'Abel City? Earth?'_

"...I have to get back to Vale," Penny said, her composure fracturing more by the second as she jumped up from the chair, throwing it backwards. "Can your people return me to Vale?"

"Vale? Penny, I don't know where-"

"Atlas!? Vacuo? Anywhere?"

The commander stood up from his chair and backed away from Penny. He reached for the alarm button under the desk, ready to alert every Hunter within a ten-mile radius of an imminent threat.

HER threat.

"You need to calm down, Miss Polendina. You appear to be experiencing-"

 _'I...I have to go. **Now**.'_

Penny's swords deployed and hovered by her sides, their cannons facing rearward. Barely restraining the temptation to go into sheer panic, the Atlesian girl began to charge them, filling the air with the low whine of heating plasma.

"Penny! What are you doing-?"

"I have to return home," Penny said in a shaky voice as she turned toward the window. Before the Hunter could react further, she fired the charged energy in one large burst and flew forward, crashing heavily through the thick glass. She directed two of her swords into the shiny exterior walls of the base, sending a shower of sparks through the air as her descent slowed to a manageable speed.

 _'Now...to find a way home….'_

* * *

Signas stood there, stunned. In all of his years of service with the Hunters, he'd never encountered something like this. He didn't want to give the order, but the threat this girl posed was undeniable.

It was his duty to safeguard society against Mavericks, and he was built specifically to uphold that duty. And sometimes, that wasn't always an easy thing to do.

He sighed, cursed under his breath, and reached for his communicator.

"Alia, call in Zero. A Maverick has breached containment."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry for the late update. I've been feeling a little drained, and I've been fairly busy as of late. I think I needed a bit of a break from any real writing anyways.**

 **This was a rather difficult chapter, because I have to make the world-change realization decent and not OVERLY cheesy and terrible. Oh well, at least I can say I tried.**

 **Now, you might notice that this is a very short chapter. I normally would shoot for the 2,000 word mark (which isn't even that long by most standards) but it's been a while since I updated this, so I thought that giving you guys some reassurance would be a good idea. I plan to release another update within the next few days, so rest assured.**

 **And, now for some reviews. This is a bit sudden, but I'm starting to do it with my other fic and I think it's a neat way to engage with you guys.**

 **New Universe Returns: Upgrades will probably come into play later on. And yes, I have seen the Iron Man movies. Robert Downey Jr. is my hero.**

 **SonatiShinonome: I'm glad you like it. I have noticed that most of the crossovers in this section are pretty much abandoned, which kind of blows because I enjoyed a couple of them. I plan to keep this one updated.**

 **jack hopper: Thanks!**

 **brave kid: Thank you for the praise and the ideas you sent!**

 **MechaSniper51: I'm glad it's not awful. Thanks! Also, I couldn't resist making that reference tha you mentioned in your second review.**

 **Daxen123: I HAVE SO MANY ANSWERS (maybe). I might do that Q &A soon.**

 **Warmach1ne32: I would sell my kidney for that game. Hell, I'll even throw in my pancreas too if I get to play it with an SNES controller.**

 **Mage of Hope: Wish granted, pal. Welcome to the CRR fam.**


	5. Locked Blades

**A/N: Hey, guys, I'm back with a new chapter-**

 ***glances at calendar***

 **Sheeeit, dawg.**

 **So, yeah, sorry about the super-duper late update. I've been hella busy with other projects, school, IRL stuff, and a bit of Writer's Block as well. Plus, as a young male, I'm incapable of doing anything within a reasonable amount of time. Good news is that the fic's not dead, so woohoo!**

 **Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **ALERT LEVEL: RED. ACTIVE MAVERICK PRESENT. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.**

The wailing of the public alert system filled Penny's ears as she sprinted down the street. The multitudes of people and Reploids stampeded in the opposite direction, following the holographic directional signs to the nearest safe area. Penny briefly considered falling in with the crowd for concealment, but decided against it.

After all, she WAS the "Maverick" that set this fiasco into motion.

"They'll be sending someone after me soon, I'm sure," Penny said to herself, rounding the corner and entering a dimly lit alleyway. The mazelike corridor was surprisingly clean by alley standards, probably due to the mouse-sized streetsweeper Mechaniloids that darted across the pavement as the girl approached.

 **POWER REMAINING: 68%**

The system status notification rang in Penny's head as a sudden sense of unease filled her heart. She was technically able to run indefinitely in non-combat situations, but recent events didn't exactly qualify as "non-combat." She needed to find Dust if she wanted to remain combat-ready.

And from the look of things, being combat-ready was now an entirely necessary component of her plan to stay alive on Earth.

"If I was a Dust shop, where would I be?"

The robot turned the corner, exiting the alleyway and finding herself in the middle of what seemed to be a shopping district. Most of the holographic advertising displays were commandeered by the authorities for EAS purposes, but a few continued to flaunt colorful displays of consumer goods.

"Well, that's convenient!" she said.

She looked down the desolate road, scanning the area for any Dust displays. She briefly considered the questionable morality of openly stealing the stuff, but, as the General often said, "desperate times called for desperate measures."

A small cart, a concession stand of some sort, sat to the side of the asphalt path. Penny's eyes widened as she examined the goods.

They weren't edible food items. They were crystals.

'Dust.'

She jogged over to the cart, an automated one from the look of it.

"Need energy? Get a boost with E-Crystals! Only 350 Zenny!"

Penny was puzzled. She was used to the "everything is automated" part of this place, but she still struggled to wrap her head around this world's rules. Why did they call their version of Dust E-Crystals? Why did they sell them in easy-to-rob carts? And most of all, who in their right mind would decide to name the currency "Zenny?"

Once again, these questions were for another time.

Penny's backpack unfolded, releasing one of her swords. She stepped back, braced for a possible explosion, and sent the sword gliding through the colorful exterior of the cart. The automated salesman voice began to distort as the upper half of the cart slid off, the blade's path leaving a vibrant orange mass of melted metal.

Penny frowned. Someone out there was going to need a new cart.

"I promise I'll pay for this later," she said as she picked up one of the crystals. It looked like Dust on the surface, but it didn't seem to have any elemental charge, and it just….felt different.

Penny's grip tightened on the crystal. With a loud crack, the gem shattered, and arcs of white energy shot up Penny's arm.

 **POWER REMAINING: 102%**

The girl stood there, impressed by the power of this stuff. One crystal managed to refill her total energy capacity and then some. She actually seemed to be glowing, her Aura compensating for the sudden power surge by emitting light.

"Wow!" Penny exclaimed, picking up another crystal to save for later. She looked down at it, marvelling at the reflective surface.

But something was off.

She squinted at the reflection, more specifically the red blur that had suddenly appeared.

 _'Oh dear.'_

Acting on a mix of reflex and intuition, Penny fired her thrusters to her left, propelling herself in the opposite direction. Right on cue, an armored red and white Reploid fell from above, its planted fist producing noticeable cracks across the pavement.

Penny got into her fighting stance, swords suspended in midair as the figure turned around to face her. The first thing she noticed was the hair: a long, blond ponytail that would probably make Ruby's sister incredibly jealous. A triangular blue crystal adorned the center of the angular helmet, and an additional two green crystals marked the Reploid's chest.

Penny looked down at her own chest, and a realization hit her.

She was pretty sure those were breasts.

"Excuse me, miss, but you appear to be taking aggressive action against me," Penny said. "That may not be the best course of action."

"Save it, Maverick!" the Reploid answered in a distinctly male voice. "You're not putting any more lives in danger today!"

 _'Well, so much for my chances of negotiating my way out of this conflict…'_

"Very well, then…"

Immediately after finishing her statement, Penny opened fire on the hostile Reploid, but he weaved and dodged through the green plasma bolts with ease.

"Is that all you've got?" he asked as his arm morphed into a particularly intimidating arm cannon.

"No, it's not," Penny replied. She began to channel her power reserves into her array of swords, each one taking on a bright green glow as they charged. "Let me show you what I can do."

With a wave of the hand, Penny unleashed ten charged shots simultaneously, the orbs of energy spread into a cloud that would be impossible to evade, even for someone with high mobility and speed.

The other Reploid's cannon sparked to life, an equally bright cyan glow coming from the superheated plasma within. With a smirk, he calmly placed his other arm on the cannon to compensate for recoil, and released the charge shot.

Penny remained calm. The shot wouldn't be able to stop the onslaught of her attack, not on its own. Satisfied, the girl prepared to leave; this battle was over.

Or so she thought.

The blue charged shot somehow split into several separate shots that spread out in an inescapable spread, deftly colliding with and neutralizing all of Penny's own.

A bead of synthetic sweat appeared on her forehead. She had grossly underestimated her opponent, and now they were once again on equal footing. And, once again, Penny was fighting for her life.

Deciding against trying another ranged assault, Penny shifted her weapons back into melee mode, in hopes that her opponent would be less skilled against a close-quarters barrage.

"Alright, let's make this interesting," the crimson robot said as he reached behind his back. He drew a small yellow device from a slot on his back and readied himself for Round 2.

 _'What is that? A baton of some sort?'_

Penny received her answer as the yellow object activated, and a bright blue energy blade shot out from the end.

Her eyes widened. This Reploid was prepared for almost anything she could throw at him, and that did not bode well for her for obvious reasons.

Trying her best to stay focused, Penny held her hands out like a puppeteer, guiding her swords toward the enemy at high speed. The swords whizzed through the air at blinding velocity, each blade locked on to the target.

Unfazed, the Reploid dashed forward with leg-mounted thrusters, deflecting the initial sword strikes at an equally fast speed that Penny found difficult to track, even with her enhanced optical technology. The girl winced as the sword found its way to one of the guide wires, severing it and one of the swords.

He'd found a weak spot.

Acting hastily to spare her arsenal, Penny recalled her remaining swords to her sides. She'd have to make a risky move to do any damage, but at this point, she didn't have much of a problem with that. The blond-haired machine stood a few meters down the street, sword ready to counter her next attack.

It was time.

Two of Penny's swords turned backwards, already transformed and ready to provide considerable thrust at a moment's notice. Her remaining blades were angled forward, deliberately arranged to do maximum damage when striking from the side.

She was going to dash in for the kill.

Reading the move, the Reploid warrior fired his thrusters.

It was now or never.

A nanosecond after, Penny fired her swords and flew toward her foe. The two robots passed each other, their actions executed at such a fast pace that it seemed that nothing had happened at all.

Penny looked back at the enemy. He stood there, motionless, before suddenly clutching his torso and falling to his knees.

She had won.

 **WARNING: STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED**

Penny's heart sank as she glanced downward at the massive slice through her side. A small trickle of oil ran out onto the road, and stray sparks danced across the wound.

Was it a victory? Yes.

But it came at a cost that Penny couldn't afford to pay.

As her vision blurred, the girl collapsed. Her ears were ringing, but she managed to make out the sound of whirring turbines as a Maverick Hunter-operated VTOL aircraft flew overhead. The craft slowed and began to hover, dropping off a team of robotic Hunters to secure the area and retrieve their downed comrade.

As two of them walked over and looked down at her, Penny saw a bit of irony in the situation. Back on Remnant, she was the only sentient synthetic being in existence. She was going to be a Huntress someday, and she had finally found a friend to share that experience with.

Now, here she was, one of the countless billions of synthetics. She was no longer the Hunter: she was now the hunted, the monster that needed to be slain to keep the peace.

And now, worst of all, she was completely alone.

* * *

 **A/N: Can you say "Downer Ending?"**

 **I hope that you liked the Penny vs. Zero fight. Fight scenes never were my strong suit, which is kind of a liability when you write RWBY fanfics...**

 **I do want to go ahead and say that the Maverick Hunters aren't going to be a collective bag of dicks the entire fic; that is only for early on. Poor, poor Mavericks.**

 **Anyways, I might be updating this one less frequently. I'm still going to do it, but I'm gonna** **be shooting for bi-weekly rather than weekly from now on.**

 **And now, it's review time.**

 ** _Mage of Hope: I use the wiki obsessively. Of course, the great thing about Mega Man as a series is how flexible it is. They (Capcom) never really gave a definitive and super-detailed outline of what technology the people in the future have, so you get some leeway when working on that kind of thing as long as your take on it isn't horribly outlandish._**

 _ **Taromaru: Yeah, there was some gun-jumping. I'd probably do the same thing that he did if I was in his position, though. As you can see, I went the "moar violence" route with the Penny & Zero encounter. As for Project X Zone, I haven't purchased or played ****the game (though I do intend to once I get money), so I'd probably goof up anything and everything related to its story.**_

 ** _MechaSniper51: GG indeed. Filthy deathmatches all around, lads._**

 **As always, feel free to leave a review, and I'll see you next chapter!**


	6. Deliberation

**A/N: Hey, pals. It's that time of the month again.**

 **Yes, I'm aware that this is a very short chapter, even by my standards. I've been focusing most of my writing energy on finishing my other fic, and I've got exams this week and next week, so...**

 **Anyway, this chapter serves to possibly clear up a few of the possible plot holes that we'd inevitably encounter. It has no fight scenes, but Penny's died three times already in this fic, so I think a short break from excessive violence is in order.**

 **Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Sir, are you sure that this is a good idea? She caused thousands in damage! She's clearly in severe mental distress! She almost killed Zero! Why-?"

Signas stopped and stared out the shattered office window into the vibrantly lit city below. Abel City was back to normal within a few hours of the...crisis; the authorities had rerouted traffic around the damaged highway, and the sector that Penny damaged during her escape was secured by members of the 17th Elite Unit.

It amazed him, really. Maverick attacks were a regular part of life after the Repliforce incident, and the public was well-aware of this fact. So, the entire damage control procedure was revamped to make repairs as fast as possible, and to show that even the government had accepted the truth: the troubles resulting from Sigma's rebellion were far from over.

"Alia, I have a feeling about her," Signas explained. "When this incident began, she wasn't showing any signs of traditional Maverick Virus infection. Her diagnostics were clean."

"That doesn't change anything," Alia replied. "She's dangerous!"

"She didn't do what she did because she had a Maverick-like drive to destroy," Signas stated, gesturing at the broken window. "She did this because she was frightened. She ran, Alia!"

The commander took a step back from the window and sat down at his desk, rearranging the overturned paperweights and office materials back to their original state.

"When she and I talked, she was completely cooperative and peaceful," he continued. "Until she asked where we were."

"I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but that's a perfectly normal question to ask, Commander," the female Reploid said.

"The question itself is not the strange part. What was strange was how she phrased it," the officer explained. "She asked not what city or municipality she was in, but which Kingdom."

Alia crossed her arms and contemplated this. There hadn't been an internationally recognized monarchy on Earth for almost an entire century. The use of the word "Kingdom" was odd, but it still wasn't anything that couldn't be explained by psychological instability.

Or the Maverick Virus.

Signas began again. "I answered her question to the best of my ability. Then, and only then did she exhibit any signs of extreme distress. She began to name off these 'Kingdoms' before escaping and saying something about 'going home' to a place called Vale."

Alia interjected. "That's not a recognized-"

"I'm aware," Signas replied sternly. "I checked."

"Okay, so we have a Reploid girl who has gone berserk twice within the last 48 hours, is capable of standing up against Class S Hunters, and is fixated on returning to a 'Kingdom' that doesn't exist," the navigator said. "With all due respect, sir, this seems like proof that she's a Maverick."

"I thought so as well," Signas stated. "But that was before I saw this."

The large Reploid placed a sealed dossier marked "Classified" on the desk and slid it forward to Alia, who slowly took it with wide-eyed awe.

"T-this is highly sensitive information," she said. "I'd need a higher clearance to even touch this-"

"Read it."

The woman opened the dossier and examined the files. Low-level diagnostic information, mostly; really, this info wouldn't normally be highly classified. She dug deeper in the file, poring over the data.

Subject: Penny Polendina

Manufacturer: Unknown

Location of Assembly: Unknown

Specifications: Unknown

While the comparatively large number of holes in the information was strange, it wasn't enough to warrant any serious governmental reactions. Illegal production of Reploids and Mechaniloids wasn't unheard of, and determining exact specifications would be difficult to do in such a short amount of time, even in an advanced facility like the Hunters' laboratory complex.

But then, she noticed something. She gasped, squinting hard to confirm that she was reading the text correctly.

DNA Analysis: Failed

"D-do you really think that-?"

"Yes. Yes, I do," Signas answered calmly.

"And do you think that it's safe to believe her?"

"I do think that it's too early to be sure," the commander said, standing up from the desk and heading for the door. "But I also think that we have a responsibility to be prepared."

"For what?"

"For anything. I don't know what's coming next...but this girl may be just the beginning."

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I did pull the "unanalyzable DNA" card, but I think it makes sense here. Penny's not from Earth, so her design would be MUCH different from a Reploid equivalent.**

 **Now, review time.**

 **mongooseman: She's not. How would I come up with material if the main character died (permanently)? As for traumatizing moments, I'm going to say that there will probably be more. But it's totally okay, because robots. Right?**

 **brave kid: Thanks. You're too kind.**

 **Enigma infinite: Nah. We're stuck on this train for (hopefully) quite a bit longer.**

 **MechaSniper51: Thanks for the praise. Penny's fighting style is hard for me to write semi-well, since it usually boils down to snazzy sword tricks and tons of lasers. And, as the RT crew has demonstrated, that probably works best in a visual format. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed it.**


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